1. Field of the Presently Disclosed and/or Claimed Inventive Concepts
The presently disclosed inventive concept(s) relates generally to gun slings and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to adapters for converting a single sling mount to dual-sling mount enabling carrying a firearm over two shoulders like a backpack.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Numerous gun slings have been developed for carrying a long gun, such as a shotgun or rifle, over the shoulder. Gun slings allow a shooter to quickly and safely transition out of a firing position into a position with both hands free. A gun sling can prevent mishaps such as accidental discharge of a dropped gun.
In order to attach a gun sling, most rifles and shotguns come equipped with, or can readily be equipped with a swivel and swivel stud on both the lower and upper end of the gun. Gun swivels are small metal loops used to anchor the sling to the swivel stud. Swivel studs are basically screws secured to the gun and having a transverse bore for threading the swivel.
Typically, a single gun sling is used to carry a gun across one's shoulder. However, it is often desirable for both comfort and security to carry the gun across one's back in a backpack fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,835 describes a gun sling slit longitudinally. The unslit ends of the strap are looped and attached to swivel rings mounted to the gun. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,254 describes a gun sling system having two slings joined on each end by a Y-strap. The slings can be worn over both shoulders and the Y-straps can be connected to upper and lower single-swivels on a rifle or shot gun.
Such systems allow carrying of the gun over one shoulder and optionally over the back in a backpack fashion; however, special straps are necessary. When worn over one shoulder the straps are necessarily twice as bulky as necessary. When worn across the back with two straps, the section where the straps are joined is bulky and uneven. This can be uncomfortable and can result in abrasion and irritation of the underlying the skin. There remains a need for connectors that will allow either one or two gun slings to be attached, and further allowing a gun with two gun slings to be worn in a backpack fashion. There is also a need to readily convert existing gun sling swivels and studs to accommodate dual slings for comfortable use in a backpack fashion.